Nut-lock



UNITED ST TES PATENT Ems.)

GEORGE PLINY FULLERFOF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

NUT-LOCK,

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 376,771,dated January-24,1888;

Application filed SeptemLerlSh1887. Serial no. 250,101. (No ads To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE PLINY FULLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvementin'Railway-Rail Joints, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in nut-locks; and it consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices, that will be more fully set' forth hereinafter, and particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1- is 'aperspective view of a railway-rail joint-provided with a nut-lock embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a. horizontal sectional view of the same, taken on the line x of Fig. 1, and showing the spring-plate in position before being apthe nuts have been screwed home.

plied tothe nuts. ,Fig. 3 is a similar View showing the position of the spring-plate after Fig. 4 is a detached perspective view of my improved device.

Arepresents the meeting railroad-rails.

B represents the usual fish-plates, which are arranged on opposite sides of the shanks of the rails and serve to connect the same, and 0 represents the bolts, of the usual construction, which pass through aligned openings in the fish-plates and in. the shanks of the rails. Four of these bolts are preferably employed for each joint, the bolts which are farthest from the ends of the fish-plates being provided with nuts D.

E represents my improved nut-locking device, which comprises a semi elliptic flat spring-plate, .ofsteeLor other suitable material, provided on its upper edge with right-angled ends of a pair of slits F and G, thereby forming l'ips H, which lips have their inner ends bent outwardly or offset, andthereby arranging the said lips-in a different plane from the spring-plates and parallel thereto. The saidlips extend in the same direction, as shown, and the distance be; tween them issuch that their free ends are adapted to bear against the side of; the intermediate nuts, D. vided at suitable points with openings I, adapted to receive the shanks of the'intermediate bolts, and the length of thesaid spring- The spring-plate E is proplate is such that when it is pressed flatagainst' the'side of oneof the fish-plates its ends will bear against the opposing inner edges of v the outer nuts, D, as shown.

When attaching thefish-plates to the meeting through the fish-plates and the rails, andthe nuts B are screwed home onthe threaded ends of the said bolts and caused to clamp the fishits bowed or bent normal condition, as shown in Fig. 3, the ends only of the said spring-plate bearing against the fish-plate. The springthe intermediate bolts and caused to bear against the outer side of the spring-plate. As the nuts D are screwed onto the intermediate bolts, they press the central portion of the sides of the fish-plate, and thereby straighten out the said spring-plate and cause itsends to nuts D. While the nuts D are being screwed onto the intermediate bolts, they slip over the tongues or-detents II, and when the said nuts are screwed home, so as to cause the springnuts D are turned in such a positionthat their edgeswill beengaged by the lips H, as shown, thereby firmly looking the said nuts G and preventing them from working loose.

against theinner edges of the nuts D serve to effectually; lock the said nuts.

In order to remove the spring-plate, the lips H must be first pressed inward against the fish- While thelips H are thus pressed in, the sp ringplate will be kept in contact with the fish-plate I The operation of my invention is as follows: 1

.travel toward the inner opposing edges of the J ends of the rails, the outer boltsare firstpassed plates firmly against the, sides of the railouter sides of one of the fish-plates, while in spring-plate nearer and nearer to the opposing 1 8o plate to bear flatly against the fish-plate, the I The ends of the spring-plates which bear plate by means of a suitable clamp or other device, and caused to disengage the nuts D.

at all points of itslength, and the nuts D may be I f readily unscrewed from the intermediate bolts. I

0 plate is then pressed inward toward the fish-. plate a sufficient distance to cause the ends of 1 theintermediate bolts to pass'throughits openings H, when the nuts D arethen screwed onto \Vhen this has been done, the'intermediate bolts are removed, and the clamping devices are then released from the lips H, when the plate E instantly springs to its original normal shape (shown in Fig.4) and drops from the rail-joint, thereby releasing the nut D, as will be easily understood.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- The combination of the rails, the fish-plates, the outer bolts passed through the rails and fishplates and having the nut-s D, the curved spring-plate E, having the lips H, raised horizontally in one edge and projecting in the same direction, and provided with openings I, for the shanks of the intermediate bolts, and the nuts D, screwed onto the intermediate bolts, bearing against the outer side of the springplate, and thereby forcing the latter flat against the opposing fishplate and causing its ends to 20 GEORGE PLINY FULLER.

' Witnesses:

ED. D. MoGULLooH, M. G. QUINN. 

